Chapter 6: Twilight Town: Struggle Tournament

Roxas woke the next day terribly sore and turned himself over to get a little more sleep. He'd had more dreams about the kid named Sora and he'd finally heard Kairi's name. He'd been wondering who the strange red-haired girl was.

"Get up." A voice snapped and Roxas shot up, turning to the window.

The window was open and he distinctly remembered closing them. What's more, Toshiro was sitting on the sill, leaning against the frame and watching him with that same icy glare, sword nowhere to be seen.

"Oh come on, let me get some sleep." Roxas groaned and lie back down, putting the pillow over his head.

Toshiro promptly snatched the pillow and tossed it off the bed.

"Hayner asked me to remind you about the Struggle Tournament today in case you forgot."

For the second time that morning Roxas shot up, this time leaping off his bed.

"Damn, I can't believe I forgot about that! I promised Hayner we'd go for the Finals!" Roxas growled to himself as he rushed about getting dressed.

"I'll leave you to it." Toshiro sighed. "I'll be in the tournament too to make sure you don't slack, see you there."

"Ya, see ya!" Roxas replied, not really paying attention. "Wait…you're participating?"

Turning to the window, Roxas realized the white haired child had already left. Shrugging, he went back to getting dressed before running out the door and towards the sandlot.

Toshiro went the faster route across the rooftops before moving down into an alley and stepping into the sandlot. Most of the virtual townspeople were there as well as the many fighters signing up for the matches. Apparently kids his 'age' couldn't enter, but Diz was fine with allowing him in by letting the people know he was older than he looked, just short. He was also going to move the match so Roxas could fight against him. Training continued no matter what the circumstance, Toshiro was clear with Diz on that.

As the tournament began and the number of fighters moving on dwindled, Toshiro kept his distance from Hayner and the others, including Roxas. Since Roxas didn't know that everyone was a fake, Toshiro's reasoning for keeping his distance was he didn't want people to be suspicious about them hanging out all the time.

The fighting was easy, even if he was using a Struggle bat instead of a sword, and he ended up surprising a lot of people. Roxas knew that he was actually toning it down but didn't say anything. He'd gotten enough bruises to know how hard the small child hit. Eventually, it was narrowed down to four. Hayner stomped off after getting beaten by Hitsugaya, the latter moving on to the Semi-Finals with Roxas, Seifer and Vivi. Apparently Vivi's rise to the finalists was unnatural, making Roxas wonder what kind of training Vivi did. Toshiro, however, knew something was up with Vivi since the tournament had started.

'One of those Nobodies has hacked Vivi's player.' Toshiro mused while watching the short character in a blue jacket with a tall yellow hat that shadowed everything but his glowing yellow eyes. 'Perhaps I should get Diz to let me fight him.'

'Do you want to train Roxas or get rid of the Nobody?' Hyorinmaru asked.

'If Vivi beats Seifer I'll probably do both.'

'Weren't you going to let Roxas win, even if by a tiny point?'

'I guess Roxas could use the experience. Let's see how things turn out.'

"For the next match!" The announcer shouted and Toshiro turned his gaze away from Vivi. "The newest person in Twilight Town and surprising powerhouse, Toshiro!"

"I thought I told Diz to use my last name." Toshiro growled to himself as he stepped onto the platform that now stood in the Sandlot.

"Versus my absolute favorite customer, Roxas!"

The blonde jumped at that, not having expected to fight against Toshiro. Walking up the steps to stand in front of Toshiro, Roxas gulped and took the Struggle bat from the referee, the same nervousness he'd felt last night showing through again. During their training he'd barely managed to defend against the white haired child, let alone get a hit. Toshiro would get all the points in no time.

"Consider this an actual battle." Toshiro said in a low voice once the referee had backed away. "Don't see a bat in my hands but my sword, remember what I showed you."

"Easier said than done." Roxas grumbled back, taking a stance. Toshiro remained in a relaxed standing position, only serving to make Roxas even more nervous.

"All right, go!" The announcer's voice echoed to start the match.

Toshiro darted forward, a move Roxas remembered from the other night. He also remembered what Toshiro told him to do to counter it. As Toshiro swung down, Roxas took a step forward and blocked, pushing away Toshiro's bat and using the momentum to swing around and catch his opponent in the back. Ten points moved from Toshiro to Roxas.

That was until Toshiro swung low and took his points back with a hit to Roxas's side. The child dodged Roxas's next strike and used the opening to make a jab at his chest, taking twenty points. Now Toshiro was in the lead.

"Had that been my blade you'd be dead." Toshiro warned. "Your attack on my back was non-fatal, while both of mine could have killed you instantly. Try harder!"

"Shut up, I'm trying!" Roxas growled, taking stance once more. "You move too fast!"

'I'm not even using Flash Step.' Toshiro sighed.

The clock ticked downward all the while as Roxas attempted to outmatch the battle experienced Captain. He found most of the reactions to some of Toshiro's actions came by reflex now, allowing him to work his way back to the lead before Toshiro pulled something new on him, telling him he needed to adapt, and went ahead again. It was down to the last ten seconds and Toshiro was rapidly deciding whether or not to let Roxas have the final strike, thus allowing him the win, or strike him down and fight Vivi. He had no doubt the Nobody would defeat Seifer.

In the end he decided Roxas's skill was good enough to fight off the weak Nobody and struck out with an obvious blow, one Roxas had memorized. The blonde ducked around it and jabbed the Captain in the stomach, knocking him down. Toshiro had used that on Roxas often enough with the hilt of Hyorinmaru that the Nobody could do it himself.

The clock rang its end and Roxas came out the winner by ten measly points. The close call made those who knew Roxas break out in loud cheers. If they had been actual people they might have noticed how Roxas was to the point of passing out while Toshiro hadn't even broken a sweat. Training in the Soul Society was far more rigorous.

"Seems you've improved." Toshiro told the blonde, holding his hand out to shake it.

Roxas grinned and took it, suddenly feeling much better. What the Nobody didn't see was the green light passing between their hands as Toshiro used a discreet Healing Kido burst to give Roxas some of his energy back. He would need it to fight the Nobody in Vivi.

As the next match started, Toshiro stepped off to the side away from the others. He kept a close eye on Vivi as he faced Seifer. The clock started and Vivi leaped first, showing surprising speed against Seifer. The tall man had trouble blocking the quick strikes that obviously packed a punch considering how he seemed to be straining against them. Then, Seifer managed a hit, allowing him a few points.

"This is it!" Seifer called out as he leaped towards Vivi.

The tiny creature moved too quickly and in the next instant, Seifer was out with a good amount of points passing to Vivi. The fact that Seifer couldn't fight anymore meant Vivi won automatically.

But Toshiro saw what others didn't. The Nobody had moved out of Vivi for a brief instant and landed an alarmingly rough blow that caused the blonde to knock out.

"Roxas should have experience with fast opponents now, but still…" Toshiro let his thoughts trail off as Seifer was helped off the platform – turns out he was just dazed – and Vivi stayed on the platform, staring Roxas down.

'Considering he only had one night of training and yet managed to remember most of what you told him, he's better off than most.' Hyorinmaru assured his master.

"And now the match you've been waiting for!" The announcer said as Roxas stepped back onto the platform. "Roxas versus Vivi!"

'Let's hope one night of training is enough for Roxas.' Toshiro watched both combatants carefully as the match began.

Sorry, short chapter, my bad. I wanted to save the fight with the Nobodies for after that (there's actually more to it but for those who haven't played it I won't spoil it.) Anyway, enjoy!